Vampire Academy Is Not Twilight

By ReelzChannel Staff

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While Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series continues to rage on through fandom, another book-to-movie franchise is gaining momentum as a cultural force of its own and — surprise — it's also about vampires and adolescence. The first Vampire Academy movie from Richelle Mead's series is now in pre-production, which has fans speculating about casting choices and even creating their own posters and trailers. And while the two franchises will draw the inevitable comparisons (and perhaps even some rivalry), one thing is for certain: The reign of the vampire is far from over.

Main Characters
With Bella and Twilight, we explored the depths of the ordinary female mind. Bella's ruled by her emotions, which in a weird way keeps her withdrawn. Rose on the other hand, hits the ground running and doesn't stop until every obstacle in her way is taken down. She leaps without thinking, speaks her mind, and is rarely caught speechless. With Bella, we were forced to recognize the human emotions within us, whereas with Rose, we feel the need to stand up and kick the crap out of anything keeping us from our goals.

StorylinesTwilight is an extremely character-centric story. When action lulls, Bella and Edward are left to dazzle us with their chemistry. In Vampire Academy, we are instantly pulled into action, with an escape from half-vampire guardians and a true show of Rose's quick wit and irrational behavior. In Twilight, we get to slowly enter into the situation and watch the events leading up to the conflict with ease. In Vampire Academy, we are in the middle of the conflict and playing catch up in a fast-paced and exciting way.

Relationships
Bella sees Edward from across the room and it's quiet intrigue at first sight. Rose sees Dimitri Belikov from across the yard and goes into fighting mode. It takes the frustration and the intense physical training for Rose to come to appreciate who Dimitri is. Both romances are forbidden, but while Edward and Bella are torn because of the species barrier, Rose and Dimitri have to deal with the teacher-student drama as well as the fact that in their world, their kind cannot be together. Another relationship that's central to Vampire Academy is Rose's connection to Lissa, a Moroi and her best friend. They share a special bond that also propels the plot and is essential to the series. This female friendship, however, is not explored in Twilight. Her relationships with Edward's vampire sisters and the girls at Forks High can't compare to the utter trust and devotion Lissa and Rose have. This connection strengthens not only the plot but also Rose's development throughout the series.

The "V-Word"
These two series center on vampires, but the physical and emotional characteristics could not be more different! In Twilight, vampires are sparkling gods; nearly indestructible and fangless, these beings seem to stem from a dream. And while some are ruthless killers, most seem to remember their humanity and have no problem staying hidden from the general public. In Vampire Academy we are introduced to two races of vampire — the Moroi and the Strigoi. Moroi are living vampires who drink enough blood to sustain themselves and also eat regular food. They walk in the day like the vampires in Twilight (though there is no sparkling), but become drained of energy quite quickly. The Strigoi are soulless, evil, bloodsuckers who cannot be in sunlight. There are many ways to create Strigoi and one (of the many) ways to kill them is with a stake.
So for those afraid of another Twilight knock-off, fear not! Vampire Academy brings fresh blood to the genre.